the 2009 nba playoffs are what i owe my happiness to

i love being engaged.
as i'm sure you've been able to tell
i'm so excited to be marrying matt.
i feel like i was a little hush, hush with us at first
so here is a little bit about our beginnings.

one might say our entire relationship was founded on the 2009 nba playoffs.
we were at a friend's b-day party last june and i said the orlando magic would win and matt said he bet the laker's would win.
i believe that the laker's are one of america's greatest vices and i told him this.
he said, "well let's bet on it. winner gets a night on the town in chicago."
as anyone watching the playoffs last june can atest, i lost. by a long shot.
so i had to pay up. we planned the night on the town for that saturday.
in the middle of the week, matt calls me up and says, "i actually want to take you out for a night on the town."
of course, i had been secretly hoping for the reversal of events, so i said a definitive, "yes."
we ended up talking for four hours that night on the phone. it was great. and not something normal for me, as the phone is not one of my most favorite things in the world
and than on the date, we went to dinner at vivo and talked for hours and hours.

and then the rest is history.

three things that are so great about matt:
1. he is a james taylor fan
2. he can dance like no one else can (seriously. come to our utah reception to find out)
3. he has the most fantastic laugh, accompanied by the best sense of humor
4. and he's so handsome

(i realize that's four, oh well)

p.s. remember how we took our engagement pictures in the middle of february when it was 30 degrees out and i was wearing a thin dress with no jacket? yeah about that. i've been sick for a week and a half with a cold. but oh were those pictures and the time with matt and nikki worth it! i love them. thanks again nikki.

A little sneak peak

Maybe it's a little too soon to post these, but I can't wait. My cute, good girlfriend, Nikki, helped us take engagement pictures yesterday. We had a blast doing a photo shoot in the city with her. Nikki is quite gifted behind the shutter. They turned out sooooo well it's going to be difficult to choose which one to use! So, here is a little sneak peak of some of my favorite shots. Despite how much I love them, these shots probably won't make the cut for our official engagement pic for one reason or another, but I love, love, love them any way. Nikki - Thanks a million!

you'll find that i quite enjoy these walking ones.

oh yes. and one more thing. it was absolutely FREEZING. thank goodness i had my cute fiancee to keep me warm. only way i made it through.

engaged

i never thought this day would actually ever come and that i would be able to say this - i'm engaged! Matt Nelson has had a couple of guest appearances on this blog. His debut as my boyfriend and the christmas date are probably two of my favorites. what few, if any bloggers, know is he actually played a huge role here as well. my Matt was the one who treated me to a nice romantic evening at howl at the moon and vivo. now i can reveal all that took place that evening and answer alyssa's question on that post. (i must admit that a huge part of me wanted to reveal all the day i wrote the post. propriety and the newness of the relationship held me back.)

Matt and i met in june in our chicago branch at church. when i first saw him, i was thinking he would be a great fit for one of my good girlfriends because he was so cute and well dressed (he's such a classy dresser) but when i talked to him, i decided that i actually liked him - a lot. there was something about the way he paid attention when i spoke. when we conversed it was like there wasn't another soul in the room. after a few casual and fun get togethers, and two late night, awesome phone conversations, Matt asked me out (that (how he asked) is in and of itself is a cute, cute story for another day).

since i decided i really liked Matt, i also decided i really wanted to dress up extra nice and use all the feminine charms and tricks that girls use when they like a boy on our first date. so when Matt came to pick me up, and he was 10 minutes late, instead of being ready (like i was) i pretended to still be getting ready and made him wait another 10 minutes. (i took extra time curling my eyelashes - i only wish i was joking about this).

when i came out of my room, matt was playing the piano, wearing a nice blazer and singing some jazz. it was quite attractive. he turned around and just stared and i stared back*. and then i'm sure he said something like, "we have reservations. should we go?" *note: staring between us has never, ever been awkward and it's never just staring, we usually make small talk and stare.

he took me to vivo and we just sat and talked for four hours, despite the fact that we had to yell because of the loud music and the fact that couples sitting within a foot of us on the right and left-hand side heard our entire conversations. we had a blast discussing the gospel, politics, education, traveling and i can't tell you what else, but we throughly enjoyed per our four hour stay. we ended the night just walking around the city. i knew he wouldn't, but i was secretly hoping he'd hold my hand.

fast forward to february 19. i met Matt at the airport (he is now in houston working for hp) with 24 beautiful red, long-stemmed roses. they were gorgeous! after lots of staring and a few other wonderful things like hand holding (even though it wasn't first date, eventually he held it!), he looked at the time and said something like, "we have reservations, we've got to go." we sped towards the city and parked right in front of vivo.

instead of being right in the thick of dinner goers like we were in june, we were escorted up a windy staircase and into a private room that was once the building's bell tower that overlooked the restaurant. note: pictures are taken with the no flash camera on my phone. hence the dungeon looking images.

we ordered a great dinner and enjoyed ourselves immensely just reminiscing about our first date and all that had taken place since. we also finally admitted to each other how nervous we both were about our first date. picture note: please note that we had already finished dinner when i decided just in the nick of time to take below pictures (pre-proposal). please note that even though the food does do not look very appetizing, the food is gone, hence it can logically be deduced that the food was actually very, very good.


Matt and i were browsing through the dessert menu and i was throwing out suggestions of what we could get. he always has an opinion on this, but this particular evening he wasn't responding. i was getting a tad frustrated, ready to call off dessert entirely, when he looked up and started saying the sweetest things. all of a sudden he was on one knee saying even nicer things. and all of a sudden i was nervous again. then i remembered that this is my very best friend in the entire world and i just made direct eye contact with him and didn't break it. it was a beautiful engagement and turns out we did forgo dessert in the end. (side note: we did take pictures of us at the restaurant, but they turned out kind of creepy (remember my no flash phone camera) so i won't post).

we ended up going straight to my apartment and as we were walking up, i heard lots of voices. i turned to Matt and said, "amanda must have a party going on." we walked in and all my friends were there to congratulate us. (thanks guys!) thanks amanda and Matt for your secret, strategic planning. i loved it!

So here is my beautiful ring that my handsome, wonderful fiancee picked out all by himself. note: it was exactly what i always dreamed of having. (please forgive my ultra dry hands, it's winter).

the next day i was still very, very excited about my ring and my new fiancee. i can't believe it. Matt is everything i wanted and hoped and dreamed for. i feel so very, very lucky.

two evenings after being engaged we were still VERY excited and VERY exhausted. so we cuddled up and did what every couple should do after getting engaged. we watched napoleon dynamite. note: Matt watched, i fell asleep, per usual.

coming soon: engagement pics. nikki crockett is the very best

i think i spend half my life in traffic

shot taken on a chicago expressway during rush hour.

BUT HOORAY....

i was able to make it to my hair appointment only 15 minutes late.

my hair dresser is fantastic. she's from ukraine and sounds mean on the phone, but is so nice in person. the best part about her as a hairdresser is she styles hair based on your personality. love it.

pictures to follow soon.

p.s. thanks nikki for the referral.

Did you know?

Chicago had the worst storm in years + an earthquake all within 24 hours on Wednesday, this past week. I'm so glad I live in this wonderful, lovely, freezing cold city. And I'm so glad that winter is over in just a few more weeks.

Um, a definitely must see YouTube

I try to make my way to the Facebook Newsfeed at least once a day. Just for a good laugh's sake. Today I'm so so very glad I did.

This is a must see, real life Save-the-Date that was posted from a friend to a friend's* Facebook wall. I clicked and then could not stop laughing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTqLyCTESjg&feature=player_embedded

I promise as you watch this, you will be incredibly entertained for a good 4 minutes and 10 seconds.

*Please note that this is not my friend's save-the-date, nor is it anyone I'm connected to (I really wish it was though. I want to go to this wedding!). Tiff was just passing the fun along.

good hollywood entertainment

two things i currently absolutely adore in pop culture entertainment right now.

the tv show: giuliana and bill on the style network.

two weeks ago i was sick, on bed rest, with a kidney infection. i clicked on the OnDemand button on our remote control and found this tv show. i'm in love. it's so cute. just a show about a cute couple in love trying to work through marriage, their careers and life. and the best part is it's good and clean.

another hollywood show i was very impressed with was Blindside.

my sister and i saw it for her birthday last night. i heard really good things about it, but really wasn't expecting much. i loved it! the message of it. the fact that it was so clean. i left the movie theater wanting to be a better person. i really hope hollywood continues to give the public better shows that inspire us to greater heights. to more beautiful ideals.